Inside the Ukraine crisis

Editor’s Note: This is one of an occasional series of dispatches on the crisis in Ukraine as reported by Tetiana Ostapenko, a Ukrainian journalist with ties to Franklin County.

Life is going its usual way.

At the first sight, it seems like nothing has changed. But the fear of war with Russia is still there.

Everyone believes that after Crimea’s annexation, Putin is going to push into other parts of Ukraine and grab more of our territories. Russian aggressors concentrate their main forces near our eastern borders, moving troops and tanks there.

It’s difficult to say which part of the country is now safest.

We are living not far from Transdneistra, a separatist region of Moldova, from which Putin’s troops can also attack.

Russians hate independent Ukraine.

There is an opinion: Russia didn’t overcome the fascism in 1945 and just adopted it.

Some say that Russia has prepared for the war with us for a long time. Even the children say: Russia is a bad country. Everyone is against Russian aggression. Russians make attempts to ruin Ukraine inside, to destabilize situation in the south, in the east.

But it seems pro-Russian meetings become weaker. Even Russian-speaking Ukrainians serve as patriots. In our district in the streets there are a lot of cars with Ukrainian flags.

We are disappointed of our new government. They allowed Russians to annex Crimea and let ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and his surroundings leave Ukraine. Nobody is punished. The investigation is lasting so long and has no results.

There is no logic in the situation. There are so many candidates in the presidential election and most of them are strange. People don’t believe them.

Our Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says: “You must be patient. Everything is stolen by the former government. That’s why it will not be better today or tomorrow. It will get better just the day after tomorrow.”

Each day our new government says the same, but the people are tired of it. Life is short. Ukrainians want to live, earn enough for living, change the country today, not tomorrow, not lose the faith in a better future. Some say to let the residents of Crimea live through several months and they will start to use slogans like “the glory of Ukraine.”